5.1 ss question

[marksbateman]

hypothetically, if I were to sell my indie film to a production company, studio, or whoever would buy them (the big boys), what would they do with my audio? I have really one standard audio track, dialog recorded on the same track as the sound effects. now we recorded the audio with 13,000 dollar audio package, and we just recorded the dialog and the background noises that came with it. It sounds fine and clear, but that leads me to my question... can you take that single file of audio and make it a cheap 5.1 surround sound with the background noises i have? if I were to send my project to a post audio house, could they make it surround sound? I'm not looking for dolby digital or anything, something like a DTS etc. I'm not too familiar with audio so please excuse my ignorance.

I remember reading something awhile ago that most movies nowadays use a reverb effect to the back channels. can anyone clarify this for me?

 

[Alex H.]

hypothetically, if I were to sell my indie film to a production company, studio, or whoever would buy them (the big boys), what would they do with my audio?

Hypothetically, if you sell a film as a completed work, the buyer will expect that you have it mixed to their standards, be they monaural, stereo, or 5.1 surround.

I have really one standard audio track, dialog recorded on the same track as the sound effects. now we recorded the audio with 13,000 dollar audio package, and we just recorded the dialog and the background noises that came with it.

And what was in this "$13,000 audio package?" And why did you end up with only one single track of location sound? And why is that the only audio (according to your post) that exists in the entirety of the film?

It really doesn't matter how much the audio kit costs if the equipment isn't operated by some one who knows what s/he is doing.

I question the statement that the dialog and SFX are "recorded on the same track." Anything that the mics picked up with the dialog is technically production sound, though the goal should be to record dialog with as little extraneous sound as possible. SFX are added in post from recorded directories, and Foley sounds are created in-studio and recorded live-to-picture. SFX and Foley are part of what add the big sound to films, since they both help accentuate things that wouldn't have been recorded on location or wouldn't normally be heard but can still create a more interesting film in the end.

And is there no music?

It seems, from your post, that you recorded a single track and used only that to edit and now have a very plain, monaural track of audio that isn't going to do you much good. Are there no other sound elements that you added in post?

It sounds fine and clear, but that leads me to my question... can you take that single file of audio and make it a cheap 5.1 surround sound with the background noises i have? if I were to send my project to a post audio house, could they make it surround sound? I'm not looking for dolby digital or anything, something like a DTS etc. I'm not too familiar with audio so please excuse my ignorance.

"Fine and clear" may not be enough to get your film noticed or sold, and it certainly doesn't accurately describe the quality of your dialog track. Maybe the dialog is intelligible, but is there a lot of room recorded with it? If so, it can be a not-so-great dialog track.

And you cannot take a single, monaural track and fake a 5.1 mix with it... or not very well, anyway. Again, films with good sound tracks have much more than what was recorded during production. There are sound beds added to give a believable ambience (these are never recorded with the dialog... always added later). Sound beds can include traffic noises, outdoor/nature tracks, restaurant walla, etc. There are SFX and/or Foley that help accentuate papers shuffling and items being handled and people walking and fabric moving. There are scores and music tracks. Occasionally, there's ADR. And in the case of ADR, there may be reverb added to try and match the orignal location's reflections.

In a final 5.1 surround mix, dialog will almost always be mixed to the center channel. Front L and R channels will have SFX/Foley, music, sound beds, etc., and sometimes certain lines of dialog that need to be drawn away from center (off-screen or whathaveyou). Surround L and R will have sound beds, music, some SFX, and maybe some of the added reverb. And then the ".1" of course is the LFE and has all the room-rumbling low-end, mostly of the SFX and music.

I remember reading something awhile ago that most movies nowadays use a reverb effect to the back channels. can anyone clarify this for me?

Most movies have a heck of a lot more to the final audio mix than a single track of location sound and a little reverb (see above).

So many indie films have weak/lousy sound mixes. Honestly, poor audio is what separates the few indie films that really understand both production and post audio from the other 90% that don't. Here's a great sticky from the audio forum that will give you some direction for your post sound:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=174562

 

[SMuir]

It rather sounds as though you have a dialogue edit on your hands, with some production effects cut in. If you're looking for a 5.1 mix, you won't find sufficient material in there. Time to bring in a team of sound editors.

The last micro-budget feature I worked on had 6 tracks of dialogue, 8 tracks of foley, 12 tracks of effects, four tracks of ADR, 8 atmosphere tracks (6 were surround), and twelve tracks of music (to my delight the composer delivered his mixes as Protools sessions).

While its possible to take mono atmosphere recordings and quadruple them to get a surround atmos bed, I wouldn't reccomend it unless you recorded 4 minute atmos takes (minimum). Even then, you'll miss the sense of space you get when you use a pair of stereo images or a nice surround track.

 

[Noiz2]

Take a peak at the postproduction sticky, it will answer many of your questions.

Short, no a mono track is not sufficient to create a 5.1 surround track from. Yes a lot of films basically spill some rerverb into the surrounds BUT they have done a good LCR mix and have probably spent some time on the sub also. A Dolby Digital 5.1 license will cost you over $12,000 and MUST be mixed on a certified stage and only works on 35mm prints. Some how I don't think your film with no post is going to get a film out so... But money aside to get to a 5.1 mix you would need to do audio post. Mono is cool, if you posted it that way, and if the film went through a proper audio post then those tracks can be remixed into other formats with a little massaging.

You made a film and I nod my cap i your direction because however the sound track is you managed to finish something many talk about but few actually do. That said don't get to wrapped up in worrying about what a distributor might want. If they want it bad enough there is always a way to make it happen and the sad truth is that very few films get picked up for distribution. But these days you can self distribute and it's not quite as insane as it was a short time ago. AND then the distributor you need to please is all ready happy with the film!